Hunters Prey
by Ligthingtooth
Summary: the good Captain finds himself at the mercy of two bounty hunters, with no escape in sight.can his friends find him before the bounty hunters kill him or leaves him to the military?
1. Chapter 1

With a growl of pain, he finally came to his senses again. He lay quite still at first as he was lying on his right side, his eye shut, feeling his head hurt.

_It feels like my head is about to blow_. Harlock thought silently.

Suddenly he realized that his hands were bound behind his back by some strange strong handcuffs. He tried to get lose from the cuffs by trying to pull his arms apart from each other and twist his wrists to loosen the cuffs. He tried to twist his body around to see it it helped to strengthen his pulling on the hands. This struggle kept on for a wile before he had to rest a bit. He was out of breath and was lying breathing heavy.

He was dressed in a black tight suit with a white skull and cross bones over his chest. He had two belts around his hips both with a golden buckle with the skull and crossbones decorating it. The lowest belt had some sheath for his guns but they were gone.

_Shit, both the Cosmo dragoon and my gravity saber is gone and it looks like who ever took them also took my cape as well._ He cursed to himself, his hazel brown left eye glowed with hate as he saw this.

Harlocks hazel brown hair fell in front of the black patch over is right eye and almost covered it again as he got himself up sitting on the bed. He had a scar in a line over his nose bone and down his left cheek.

Sitting in an upright position he tried again to get his hands free but again there was hopeless to try. Resting for a moment he rested his head on the wall behind him.

_How the hell did I end up here?_ He looked at the celling trying to make his foggy and hurting brain work.

_Last I remember clearly is that we had landed on a small planet to make some repairs on the Arcadia._ As he tough back the memory's started to come back to him.

After Tochiro had looked over the damage from the surprise attack done by a strange ship, it was clear that they needed new parts to make all the repairs done. Harlock had stayed back on the Arcadia to see if there was any sign of the ship that had attacked them. The hole thing was strange. Out of nowhere a small ship had appeared in front of them, blasting a few good shots at them and as the Arcadia started to shot back it took of and disappeared again. There had been no signs of any other attacks and no sign of any ships at all.

"This is strange, the shots that they fired was good shots, but it did not to much damage on us, Why did they not try to get at least one good hit on us?" Harlock asked as he was looking out on the barren waste land outside the ship.

"Maybe they weren't trying to really hit us?" Mime said as she came up behind him. Her Blue hair glimmering in the sunlight, she had her yellow eyes firmly on Harlock. Harlock turned and looked at her. Feeling a bad feeling in is gut, Harlock turned around and went out to caught up to his friend as Tochiro had already left to find the parts they needed.

Harlock had found Tochiro sitting in a small bar talking to a young girl. Harlock looked quickly over the saloon. The saloon was half full of a small gang of men playing cards. It looked like a rough bunch but no one really cared that Harlock had entered the bar. Tochiro was sitting at the bar next to a beautifully young girl. They looked a bit like an odd couple as Tochiro was much shorter than her. His short body was hiding behind a large brown cape. And his brown hair and large glasses were hiding underneath a large hat. The Girl had chocolate brown hair that flowed down her back. Her eyes were sea blue like the simple dress she had on. Around her neck there hang a pendant shaped like a simple tube. As Harlock moved towards them he heard that the young girl knew something about the strange ship that attacked the Arcadia.

"Tochiro." Harlock said as he come up to them.

"Harlock! You gave me a bit of a scare there." Tochiro said as he turned around to Harlock. He looked at Harlock with a small smile before turning his head towards the young girl who was looking at Harlock with fear in her eyes until Harlock looked back at her. She quickly drooped her eyes to the floor, but Harlock could see that her hands were shaking. Tochiro who apparently did not see this and started to introduce Harlock.

"Harlock, this is Dora. She helped me find a shop that had the parts we needed and also she knows about the ship that attacked us." Harlock looked at her. She seemed scared and sad like something was troubling her..

"I don't know much about it, I'm afraid. Just that this is int the first time it has attacked ships around here. They seem to enjoy just shooting at people and run away after a few shots." She said looking down on the floor.

"Hmm, have they been here long?" Harlock asked wondering what was making her so scared.

Dora shaked her head, as she was still looking down "Only two other ships have been attacked."

Suddenly from the outside of the saloon a rain of blast fire passed though the walls. Harlock ducked out of the way and grabbed his gun holding it ready as it seemed like the shooting stopped. The men that had been playing cards were hiding under anything they could. Harlock stood behind a pillar in the room and Tochiro and Dora was ducking down under a table to the left for Harlock. He gave his friend a quick look to see that he was unhurt. As Tochiro nodded Harlock turned again towards the outside. Suddenly in the corner of his eye Harlock saw something shiny in Dora's hand. Reacting by instinct Harlock grabbed Tochiro and picked him up, kinda throwing him over the bar. As he did this he suddenly got a cloud of gas in his face as the shiny tube that Dora was holding had a knock out gas in it.

"Damm! A trap.". Harlock cursed as he was struggling trying to keep himself from passing out, but after a few seconds the world went dark as his body gave in.

Harlock growled as he remembered how he was captured.

_but by who?_ he though as he looked around in his cell.

It was not a big room at all. It had a small table and a sort of chair shaped like a box right next to him. The were a big window right next to his bed. The walls were white as the rest of the room and a pentagram white door locked him in. The bed he was sitting on had a white madras and he suddenly realized that there was foot chains handing from the end of the bed.

_This means that either I were captured by bounty hunters or the military finally got me. But the tactic to capture me is not the military s style at all. Seems more like bounty hunters._ He got up and stood in front of the window.

The darkness of the universe and the weak light from some distant stars were all he could see.

Sighing to himself he realized that he could not see any familiar stars, and that he had no clue to were in the universe he was.

Author's Note:

after getting reviews on this one I found that I wanted to make to first chapter longer. Having how Harlock got captured in this chapter and not in the third as I first planned.

Hope it got a bit better now feel free to tell me if I can improve it even more.

Ligthingtooth


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: **

**I want you first to know that part 1 Has been edited so its a lot longer and you should read that first if you don't all ready have. Or you may be a little confused at this part. Any way hope you like it, feel free to tell me how I did. Part 3 is coming soon I hope.**

**Ligthingtooth**

Harlock looked out at the sea of stars and wondered if his best friend was captured as well.

_No he was not captured with me. That much I am sure of_. He growled to himself.

_Mimee must be worried sick by now. _Harlock sighed.

_Whoever hold me here, were smart enough to take my communicator. Not that I could send a message to the Arcadia even if I had it, not with out my captures picking up the signal. _Harlock bit his teeth together as he feelt that his communicator watch was missing around his right wrist. As he looked out on the stars thinking this Harlock remembered something in his still foggy brain.

A few weeks ago Tochiro had been siting at the Arcadia's battle bridge working on something as always when Harlock had come in.

"Tochiro, what are you doing?" He had asked as he saw his friend working on something really small.

"Making a special tracker signal that only the Arcadia can pick up. There, it's done!" His friend smiled so widely that all his white teeth were showing. They looked at each other for a little second.

"Give me your belt." Tochiro asked. Harlock took of his weapon belt with no questions asked and gave it to him.. Tochiro took it and took the gadget he had been making and stuck it onto the backside of the buckle.

"There that should do it." He smiled and gave him his belt back as Harlock started to put it back on, Tochiro started to tell how it worked.

"Since its so small no one will notice it if you get captured. When you need to activate it a strong push against it should make it activate. It will send out a special signal that only the Arcadia will pick up. It should work no mater how far away you are." Tochiro smiled and looked up at his friend.

"Knowing you, it probably will, Tochiro." Harlock had smiled.

Harlock smiled slightly thinking of Tochiro, and how lucky he was to have him as his friend. Only Tochiro would think of having something like that, and thanks to that Harlock knew that his friends aboard the Arcadia could still find him. Feeling the first ray of hope since he had waken up on this ship he turned towards the table. he pushed the buckle in to the edge on the table. He looked down to see if he had to give it another push. Seeing the belt were giving of a weak red light on the backside, he smiled as he knew that it was sending. Harlock turned towards the window again and was lost in thoughts on his friends on board his pirate ship the Arcadia.

As he looked out on the stars he suddenly realized, as he saw it in the reflection in the window, that he had a strange metal ring around his neck. Looking closer on it he noticed at it had a plate on it on the front.

_Have not seen anything like it before._ he was wondering what it was when he suddenly heard a sound on the other side of the door.

He turned around to face the door and who ever that may come trough it.

They may had been able to capture him and keep him trapped but he was still Captain Harlock and nothing could change his pride.

As the door started to slide open to one side, Harlock stood up in his full height, his bound hands resting behind his back, like he was holding them like that himself and not the cuffs that were forcing them to be like that.

First though the door came a young man. He was dressed in a white suit that sat quite tight on him. It had some black pieces around his neck, fore arms and legs.

Harlock bit his teeth together as he saw that the man had his cape on him. Harlocks cape was a black captains cape with red on the inside. Around the shoulders the cape had a kinda like a poncho like bit that had golden edge. The brim on the cape was bent down showing the red inside and the edge was in the same golden color. The cape has hold together by the skull and cross bones medallion at the front, but the man had the cape open allowing Harlock to get a better look at him.

Around his hips he had a belt with a gun resting at his right side. The belt also had a lot of strange gadgets Harlock had never seen before. He had a white helmet on his head with dark glass covering his eyes. He was younger than Harlock by a few years. Three or four years Harlock reckoned but was not sure since he could not see the face.

Behind him came a young girl. She was dressed in the same way as the man, the same white suit and helmet and a gun resting at her side.

_She seems fairly young for a bounty hunter._ Harlock thought for himself.

Unlike the man, she seemed restless and nervous, as she kept looking from Harlock to the man. The man on the other hand seemed confident and proud.

For a little while the three was just looking at each other not saying any thing.

"So, your finally awake." the man suddenly spoke. Harlock showed no reactions towards him..

"Guess you have a lot of questions on where we are and what will happen to you now." He said waiting for a answer, smiling. Again Harlock showed no signs of any thing. The girl looked from Harlock to the man. Harlock saw that her hands were shaking, it seemed like she noised that he was looking at her and quickly hid her hands behind her back.

"You know, capturing you so soon was not really our plan at all. I did not think you would fall into that simple trap. I guess i overestimated you." The man said looking at Harlock with a smile.

"You see our plan was to make you land on that small planet and make sure that you had to replace a few parts at least so that we could lure your small friend into your trap."

_Tochiro! you were the real target all along._ Harlock thought cursing to himself.

"Every thing was going according to the plan when you suddenly showed up, you could imagine our surprise." Again the man smiled looking at Harlock. Harlocks eye was hard and showed that he was angry.

"You see the real plan was to get your friend out here, and the use him as bait to lure you into a bigger trap." The man suddenly sighed. "I was planing to get the both of you but I am not complaining, getting you at least." He smiled and made two steps closer to Harlock.

"I think you might want to know that he abandoned you. After you flung him over the bar and took the full hit of the knock out gas yourself, he must have made a run of it. After you was knocked out I went to catch up to him but he had already gotten far way." The man grinned at Harlock.

_Tochiro was probably lying behind the bar knocked out as well, I did trow him pretty hard. Tochiro would never run away, specially if my life were in danger._ Harlock though but showed no reaction to the mans words.

The man suddenly took out a gun from under the cape. Harlocks eye went hard as he saw what gun it was.

"This is a great weapon. I have not seen any thing like it before." The man said looking at the gun like it was a precious gem or something. "Who ever made this must have been a real genius, but to think that this was in a low pirate hand like yours. I guess pirates gets the best things first since you just take what you want, not caring where it was meant to go or to who." The man pointed the Cosmo Dragoon towards Harlock.

Harlock just closed his eye. "That gun is a real space warriors gun." he said calmly. The man jumped a bit at Harlocks sudden words, and the girl let out a startled sound.

"I do not fear my friend's gun." Harlock said opening his eye again looking strait at the man with a ice cold stare. The man started shaking, feeling real fear flow though him. It seemed like Harlock had a spell on him that made it impossible for the man to move.

"Damm you!" The man suddenly screamed and grabbed one of the strange things he had on his belt with is left hand. Harlock got ready for anything but still got surprised, as the man pushed down on the button on the thing he had in his hand. Suddenly the metal ring around Harlocks neck got burning hot before strong electric currents were going through his body. Harlock feelt the volts go through him, Pain like nothing before where going through every cell of his body. He backed up a bit hitting the wall with his back. As sudden as it had begun the pain went away.

Harlock was gasping for air, every fiber of his body was hurting and breathing was specially hard. He stood backed up towards the wall, bent over, his arms bound behind his back and still shaking from the after currents in his body. He looked up at the man struggling to breathe.

"Not so though now are you, mister bad pirate." The man taunted him. Harlock did not answer, he looked shortly at the girl who was hiding be hind the man. She was shaking and was not really looking at him but at the floor. Looking back at the man Harlock stood back up, his eye had the same hardness in it.

"Been trough worse." Harlock smiled. The man seemed to shake of anger over not even being near to braking the pirate's spirit. biting his teeth together the man again pushed the button and again Harlock was in a world of pain. He stood leaned up towards the wall, biting his teeth together. Harlock would not give him the pleasure of hearing him scream. His head was hitting the wall a few times at the currents made his body shake. His he could feel his legs were ready to give in, the cuffs on his hands were making the currents burn his wrist even through his gloves. Memory's were flowing though his head, Tochiro, The Arcadia, Mimee, they were flashing past his inner eye as his brain was almost getting cooked.

"Brother! Stop it! You are killing him!" The girl suddenly called out and grabbed the mans arm. As the pain finally stopped, Harlock looked one last time on the two of them and saw that the girl was crying, as he passed out. Harlock sank down on the floor not moving at all. The girl ran up to him checking his pulse. She drew her hand back quickly as she burned her fingers at the metal ring around his neck. Braving the pain she tried again and finally she found a pulse. Sitting down next to him she sighed relieved. Turning to her brother she was gonna say something but stopped as she saw that her brother was shaking and gasping for air.

"Brother.." she said low. Suddenly it seemed like her brother snapped back a bit, he was still in a kinda shock, as he turned around to go out.

"Put him back on the bed and lock him down on it. I don't want him moving around." He said as he left the room.

"Brother.." She said sadly as she got back up. She looked down on the Harlock. and wondered what this man had really done to be hunted like he was. She pushed a few buttons on the panel on the bed and a piece of the madras moved away. Pulling Harlock up she supported his weight on her shoulders as she dragged him over to the bed. Lying the young man down she put his bound arms down in the new hole in the bed. This way Harlock was not lying on his arms but on his back. She pushed a few new buttons and the bound arms were tightly fastened to the bed. Going around to his legs she took on him the foot chains hanging there and made sure they were not coming lose.

As she was done she looked at him one more time, he seemed like he was just sleeping now and she could see nothing of the dangerous pirate that all said Captain Harlock was. She sighed to her self and left the room, closing and locking the door tightly behind her.


	3. Chapter 3

The saloon was empty and there were a lot of holes in the saloon like it had been used for target practise.

Suddenly there were something moving behind the bar. A small man came out, he had a big brown cape over him hiding his hole body under it. He walked out from the bar and had to support himself at the bar for a second. Blood were dripping from his fore head and down on his cape.

"Harlock." he said low looking at the empty saloon. He slowly and painfully took on a big hat. He slowly started to make his way out of the saloon, every step were a new pain to his small body.

After a good while Tochiro could finally see the Arcadia sleeping on the barren ground. Around the ship there was a lot of parts that a group of pirates were caring in to the ship. They were all dressed in simple cloths, some had a the skull and cross bones on their t-shirts, that made it easy to see that they were pirates. Suddenly one of the pirates saw Tochiro and called out to him waving his arm.

"Oy! Master Tochiro!" The other pirates looked up and smiled, before they started to run to met him. As they finally came up to him, they suddenly froze seeing the blood on him. Tochiro was hurt, to the other pirates, this came as a great shock.

"Master Tochiro! Are you okay?" One of them asked.

"What happened?"

"Who did this?" They were standing around him asking questions. Tochiro suddenly lost his balance and fell forward. One of the pirates got him before he hit the ground.

"Master! Hang on!" He called out.

"Harlock... bounty hunters." Tochiro managed to say before he finally passed out again, hearing the frighted calls of the pirates.

As he was coming back to himself he was lying on one of the hospital beds of the Arcadia.

"Your finally awake." A voice said to his right. As Tochiro turned he saw Mimee stand next to him.

"Mimee, The Captain?" He asked even as he knew what the answer would be. Mimee shaked her head.

"Harlock left right after you did, and has not come back. I have tried calling him but there is no answer." She said. Tochiro sat up, but as he did his head feelt like it started to spin around. Holding his hand up to the bandaged wound on his forehead, he cursed angry.

Jumping down from the bed he stood up braving the dizziness.

"Tochiro, you should not move around so much." Mimee said calmly.

"We need to find Harlock." Tochiro said angry and started to walk out of the room. Coming to the door he lost his balance again and had to support himself to the door.

"Tochiro, let me be your support." Mimee said coming up to him giving him her hand. Tochiro took it and Mimee lead him up the the battle bridge. As they came up there Tochiro feelt that the bridge seemed empty and sad. As he let go in Mimees hand he walked over to Harlocks chair in the middle of the room. He stood looking at it for a minute before he moved over to the controls on the side and sent out a message.

"Come in Harlock! Can you hear me?" He listened tor an answer but there was only static sound to be heard.

"Harlock! Come in Harlock! Come in!" He called in to the microphone but again there was only static. Tochiro turned pale and tears were coming up in his eyes.

"Harlock..." Tochiro sank down on his knees crying. Mimee came up to him and put her hands on his shoulders.

"He is not dead." She said. Tochiro turned and looked at her. Mimee seemed to have a special contact with the Captain and had saved Harlocks life many times before since she sensed when he was in danger.

"For now maybe," Tochiro said tears flowing back up in eyes. "Its my fault the the captain was captured." Mimees eyes widened when he said this.

Tochiro started to tell what had happened.

After leaving the ship Tochiro had walked around the town with the three pirates he had with him. They had looked for a shop that would sell the parts they needed but every where they went they were thrown out. When suddenly a young girl had helped Tochiro up.

"My name is Dora, I saw how you were treated by those shop owners. it's horrible that they would treat you like that." She said, her sea blue eyes looked at him sadly. Her blue eyes matched the blue dress she had on. Her chocolate hair flowed gently in the cool breeze.

"Don't think about it. It happens all the time. There is not many that would help pirates after all." Tochiro said brushing the dust way from his cape.

"Pirate? You?" She asked looking at him.

Tochiro grinned."You can't tell?" She started to laugh. A laugh that sounded like a melody to the pirates ears.

"Sorry did not mean to laugh at you but, no, you don't look much like a pirate." She laughed little more looking down at Tochiro. Again Tochiro grinned.

"My name is Tochiro Oyama." He said smiling to her.

"What brings you pirates here then? Are you here to..." She started to say looking a bit worried.

"No, nothing like that. We did not even plan to land here at all. Our ship was attacked by some strange ship that came out of nowhere. Our ship was only lighter damage but we need some new parts to fix it." Her face paled as she heard this.

"Is there any thing wrong miss? You look pale.." One of the other pirate asked.

She shaked her head. "Yes it's just... that you aren't the first ones to get attacked by that ship." She said low looking down on her dress.

Tochiro looked at her for a little while.

"I would like to know what you know of that ship later, but first we need to find a shop that would sell us the parts we need." He said looking to his pirate friends that nodded.

"I think I know a place that would help you. His prices are a bit stiff but he does not care to who he sells to." She said looking strait at Tochiro.

"Really! There is such a shop here?" One of the pirates asked happy.

"Yes, its not to far from here." She nodded. Tochiro smiled looking at her.

"Would you be so kind and to show us where it is?" He asked. She nodded again and started to walk.

"Finally a bit of luck." said one of the pirates behind Tochiro.

After getting the parts, Tochiro sent the three others back to the ship with the parts and a message to Harlock, that he would stay a bit to find out about the ship that attacked them. Dora had lead him to the saloon where Harlock had found him.

When the shots had been blasting around them Tochiro had grabbed Dora s arm and pulled her down under the table.

"Don't worry we won't let any thing happen to you." He had said as he pulled out his Cosmo Dragoon. She had nodded towards him. As Harlock had looked towards him to see if they were hurt he nodded to tell him that he was unhurt. Suddenly he feelt Dora's hand on his shoulder and as he turned towards her, he saw that she had something in her hand that was pointed at his face. Then suddenly Harlock had grabbed Tochiro and kinda thrown him over the bar. The last thing he had seen before he had hit his head on the edge of the bar was that Harlock had gotten a cloud of gas in his face.

When Tochiro finally came to again he was lying under a plate that had covered him completely, there by saving him from the bounty hunters that had though that he had run of.

Mimee looked pale after hearing the story from Tochiro. Tochiro still had tears in his eyes as he got back up. He looked at the chair again, fighting his tears back he turned around to the controls. He slammed his fist down on the panel.

"They were really after me and I went strait in to their trap! I lead Harlock into that trap and because of me Harlock is now their prisoner, instead of me!" he slammed his fist in the panel again, he lowered his head down on the cold panel crying.

"Tochiro..." Mimee said low moving up behind him to put her arms around him. As her arms touched his back he jumped a bit, he turned looking at her.

Suddenly he saw in the corner of his eye that a red light had suddenly started to glow.

"What?" Tochiro said going up to it.

"What is it?" Mimee asked looking at him.

"This light, thats the signal from the..." Tochiro started to say before he cut himself of. He lowered his body down and started to shake like he was crying again.

"Tochiro.." Mimee said when suddenly Tochiro laughed out loud.

"Harlock, old friend, I sure am glad you have a good memory." he laughed drying his eyes.

"Tochiro, what are you.." Mimee started to say. Tochiro were busy punching in some coordinates. As the radar suddenly flashed up and a red light were blinking on the screen, Tochiro smiled turning towards Mimee.

"That light is the Captain. He has a special tracker on him that I made, hidden behind his belt buckle. It sends out a special signal that only the Arcadia alone can pick up. Harlock remembered it and activated it. Giving us his location and gives us the chance to save him." Mimee smiled as Tochiro started to call out over the ship.

"As you all know, our captain has been captured by bounty hunters, but they made a mistake taking our captain. We have a strong signal that shows the way to the Captain. I need you all to get ready as soon as possible. Leave the repairs to we are on the way, and get ready to move out! " Tochiros voice was strong and almost sounded like the captains when he gave the order. The Arcadia was buzzing with life know that all the pirates were getting ready to move out in space again.

After only five minutes the Arcadia was ready to set back out in space again.

"We are ready for take off, sir." One of the pirates said over the screen.

"Good." Tochiro said, waiting for something. He suddenly realized that it was gonna be him that had to take the captains place for a while.

"Arcadia," he said, feeling all wrong about saying this line. "Blast off!" the Arcadia started to move and were soon back in the sea of stars where she belonged. Tochiro were checking the signal once again and made sure they were on the right way.

Suddenly Mimee screamed out like something was hurting her.

"Mimee!" Tochiro called out and just barely managed to catch her before she fell to the floor.

"Mimee! Mimee! Hold on, Mimee!" he screamed holding her.

"Pain, Harlock is in pain... terrible pain." she managed to say as she could feel the captains pain. "They are torturing him."

"Hang on Mimee, Harlock is strong. he would give in." Tochiro said being worried about both Harlock and Mimee. Suddenly it seemed like the pain that Mimee was feeling stopped.

"Mimee, are you okay?" Tochiro asked looking worried. She nodded slowly but suddenly she screamed out and were twisting around in pain.

"Pain! They are killing him!" she screamed, shaking of pain. Tochiro was holding her in his arms, unsure what to do. After a few minutes that seemed to last a life time, Mimees body went still and lifeless.

"Mimee! Mimee!! Hold on!" Tochiro called shaking her. After shaking her like that for a few moments Mimee made a sound at last. She was still knocked out but she was alive. Carefully Tochiro got her sitting down on the captains chair. Carefully he checked the sleeves on Mimees dress. Smiling he pulled out a little bottle of sake that she always had with her. Carefully he poured the sake down in her mouth. Mimee suddenly moved and opened her eyes. Tochiro took the bottle away and sighed relived.

"Are you okay?" he asked her. She nodded her head.

"Harlock was in terrible pain. They are killing him. Somehow they stopped. He is still alive. But I dint know if he can live through another round." she said shaking holding the bottle.

"We'll find him before that." Tochiro said cursing. He looked back on the radar when he suddenly saw something. Tochiro ran up to the screen. The signal from Harlocks belt had been constantly shining guiding them on their way, but now it was flashing.

"Damm it!" Tochiro cursed pushing a lot of buttons trying to get the signal back strong.

"Tochiro, what s wrong?" Mimee asked. He turned to her looking angry.

"What ever they did to Harlock, it affected the tracker. Making the signal flash like that." as he said this it seemed like Mimees face paled.

"The signal is still strong enough for us to follow it, but I am afraid it might disappear before we find them. And if they do what they did to the captain again it might short out completely. We need to make top speed now. " Tochiro called the engine room and told them to make the repair swiftly. They needed to Arcadia to make speed and fast.

_Hold on, Harlock. We are coming for you. _Tochiro though as he looked at the flashing light on the radar.


	4. Chapter 4

Harlock woke up, feeling every cell in his body hurt like they were on fire. Where the metal ring around his neck were, he could feel the skin had been burned from the heat of it. His eye was closed as even trying to opening his eye hurt like hell. For a long time he lay like this, still and listening to the silence in the room. Finally he opened his eye as some of the pain had gone away. He noticed that he was back on the bed, his arms were still bound behind his back, but the arms were laying in a sort of hole in the bed, making it more comfortable for him to lay on his back. He tried to pull his hands free from the cuffs but now they were fastened to the bed itself, making it more difficult to get free. Also his wrists had some weak burn marks that made moving his arms, even more pain full. As he started to move around to get free, he also noticed that his legs were tied down. He struggled for a while before he was worn out and his hole body was screaming again with pain. He lay there gasping for air, feeling his body hurt.

He looked at the celling, thinking about his friends again. He wondered if Tochiro was all right and if Mimee had feelt the pain he had as he was getting electrocuted.

_Knowing her she probably did, and now she must be worried nearly to death. _He thought. As he remembered his friends, he remembered the tracker on his belt. He braved the pain of lifting up his head and looked down on the belt. The belt were giving of a weak flashing light.

_Damm, the electric currents must have affected it somehow as the current were going through me. I can only hope that the Arcadia can still pick it up. _He cursed to himself as he lay his head back down.

Harlock had nearly fallen asleep when the door slided open. Harlock turned his head to see the young girl had entered the room, she was still dressed in the white suit, but this time with out the helmet.

_Dora! I knew it._ He though and noticed that on her belt she also had the control that made the neck ring work. She had her brown hair braided up and the the long braid were hanging down behind her. She had a plate with food in her hands, that she carefully placed down on the table. He looked at her, unsure what she really wanted. As she turned around to say something he turned his head way and looked at the celling again. She opened her mouth to say something but closed it again as the Captain did not show any interest in speaking with her. She sat down on the small chair and were moving the spoon around in the soup, she had brought him looking down in it sadly.

"I am really sorry about this." She suddenly spoke. Harlock did not say anything but starred at the celling.

"I did not want to go through with it, but my brother, Kansei would not listen to me." She said looking even more sad. She lifted her head and looked out on the stars through the window. "When I talked to Tochiro, he seemed so nice, nothing like the storeys I heard about him and you. He listened to me, not because he had to, or the fact that I had information he needed, but because he wanted to. For the first time in my life some one listened and saw the real me." She seemed lost in her thoughts as she turned to look at him again. To her surprise Harlock had turned his head towards her and were looking intensely at her. His eye seemed to show both pity and sorrow at the same time.

"Don't look at me like that. If you had not shown up in the saloon I would not have gone through with it. but when you showed up I got so scared, that I did every thing on reflex." She stood up backing away from the table. As she did she by an accident tripped the plate of food and it spilled over the floor.

"Shit!" She cursed and got a towel from the wall and tried to dry it up.

"Are you just gonna make excuses for yourself, for the rest of you life?" Harlock suddenly spoke. She looked at him scared for a few seconds before she lowered her eyes from his again. She could not make herself met his eye.

"Don't you have a dream for your own future? Or are you gonna get dragged around by your brother forever?" He said again with the sharpness the the captain had, that seemed to cut through anyone. she could not get herself to answer.

"Is this were you want to be? Saying sorry for what you have done, for the rest of your life?" He asked again.

"No! I.. don't want to be here forever... I.. want to have my own inn someday." She said as she got up and turned away from his look.

"For what do you fight for? Is there any real reason you are on board this ship?" He asked looking at her back. She froze to the spot as she hear that. She was confused and lost in though. She was biting her thumb on her right hand, she seemed frustrated and pulled her clove of her hand and started to bite her bare thumb again.

Harlock suddenly saw the burn marks on her fingers.

_But that would mean that she touched the neck ring as it was burning hot. Why did she do that? _He thought silently wondering what this girl really were like.

The door suddenly opened and the man came in. He had taken of Harlocks cape and Harlock could not see the Cosmo Dragoon on him. He still had the helmet on his head with the dark glass covering his eyes but Harlock could still see that he was surprised as he came in. He looked at Harlock for mere seconds before turning to his sister standing in the other side of the room biting her thumb and starring in to the wall.

"Dora, are you okay?" He asked coming up to her. She jumped back as he touched her shoulder. She looked at him with a look of fear and moved back from him.

"Dora, what happened?" He asked again this time with worry in his voice. She shook her head looking down.

"Don't go in here unless I am with you., Dora. This pirate seems to have a way of getting to people." He said holding his hands resting at her shoulders and looking right at her.

"Kansei..." She said looking up and meting his eye, he just nodded to her. She quickly picked up the plate and the dirty towel and made her way to the door. She turned around just as she came to the door and looked back over her shoulder. She looked strait at Harlock who met her eyes for a brief second before she turned to her brother. As he nodded again she quickly made her way out of the room.

As the door slowly closed, Harlock got the feeling that now he was in real danger.

"You just had to say something to her, right?" Kansei snared towards him, Harlock said nothing but looked back at him. Hie eye was hard like steel.

"My sister is like a sweet flower that does not know much about the true hardships in this universe. I really do not want her to know about it. I want her to be free and happy forever"

"Is that why you are using her as bait to capture your prey? You think that is making her happy" Harlock asked angry.

"What do you know. You are nothing but a mere space rat." He stood over Harlock. Harlock bit his teeth together and tried again to get his hands free.

"If you ever speak to her again I will kill you." Kansei snared. Harlocks eye were ice cold as he looked at him.

It seemed like having said that Kanseis mood got a little better.

"You fascinate me, Captain Harlock. By now you should have tried to find out who we are, where we are going or at least what is going to happen to you. You on the other had have not. Almost like you do not want to know, or waiting for your friends to find you. I can crush that hope already. there is now way they can find us here since we are light years away from were we captured you." He grinned as he looked down on Harlock.

_Apparently you don't know Tochiro, do you?_ Harlock though grinning on the inside. _If I am not mistaken he is already hot on your trail._

"As to what I have planed for you, well I still want your small friend as well. I will use you as bait at my new trap as soon as we get to our base. Not even the Arcadia can take that base. I will have the Arcadia smashing against the meteors that are there, as they come to free you." Kansei laughed. Harlock growled to himself.

"That will never work. The Arcadia has been through meteor showers before with out getting damaged at all." He said angry.

"But have it been through a meteor shower where there is bombs on every one of the meteors?" Kansei laughed. "There is no way that they will survive it and there is no way they would not come for you."

Harlock bit his teeth together again. _If it was Tochiro that had been trapped and I got the message to were to find him. I would still have come for him, even if it meant going in to a mine field. If I could save Tochiros life I would do it, even if it would have cost me my life to do so. This man have set up a perfect plan. _Harlock could feel a small chill going down his back. But his face showed no emotions at all.

Kansei moved over to the window. "Heh, you went real quiet now, you know as well as I do that your friends will come for you." He said, giving Harlock a new grin.

"They may come sooner than you think." Harlock said with a stone face.

"What did you say?" Kansei grabbed Harlock by the suit and pulled him up as far as his bound hands would let him. Having his face only a few centimetres from his own face.

"What did you say?" He growled at Harlock. Harlock on the other had had his eye closed and had a stone face.

"Bastard!" Kansei said and hit Harlock with a hard right. Harlock lay unmoving for a few seconds before turning his head back towards him. His lip was bleeding and his eye were kinda glowing.

"You bastard! What did you do?!" Harlock was not answering. Kansei grabbed the neck ring control and pushed the button down hard. Again the ring got burning hot around his neck before strong painful currents went trough his body. Harlock could feel the cuffs and foot chains were burning their way in to his skin as they led the current back to his body. He was growing in pain but still refused to give his torturer the pleasure of his screams.

Suddenly the pain stopped again. Harlock were gasping for air and knew that his body could not handle much more of this.

"What did you mean by that?" Kansei was furious and did not even give the captain time to answer before he pushed the button again. As Harlock thought that his body was finally gonna give in, suddenly the pain stopped. Harlock lay still gasping for air, when even through the hard beats of his heart and the ringing in his ears he heard why Kansei had stopped. A alarm was buzzing pretty loudly, a sound Harlock knew well as it usably meant that a ship was closing in on them.

"What the..." he heard Kansei say before he ran out of the room.

_You are already here, right my friend? _Harlock grinned even as painful as it was to him.

**author's note:**

**wow I am on a roll (",) fourth chapter already and the fifth and final chapter is already on the way. **

**Kansei as Dora's brother is called, is Japanese and means Trap. Kinda clever right? **

**Any way hope you like it so far and tell me know what you think..**

**Ligthingtooth.**


	5. Chapter 5

Tochiro was driving the Arcadia following the signal from the Captain. Mimee was walking back and forward on the bridge looking nervous. Tochiro feelt like he had to say some thing to make her relax, but he was not sure what.

"How are the repairs going?" He asked over the screen to the engine room. The pirate on the other end were suddenly grinning.

"Almost done sir." Tochiro sighed relived hearing this good news.

"Good, make sure that every thing is good to go. We probably have to fight to get the Captain back." He said noticing the look he got from Mimee.

_Hold out, Harlock. We are finally getting closer to you._ Tochiro though as he looked back on the radar that showed them getting closer to the signal.

"Harlock is worried." Said Mimee suddenly. "He is unsure of something." She had finally stopped wandering around.

"Mimee..." Tochiro said coming towards her.

"That's the first feeling I have gotten from Harlock since the intense pain he was feeling." She was smiling the only way she could, with her eyes. Tochiro smiled as he heard this.

"He is okay then?" He asked, feeling a ray of hope at last. Mimee nodded.

"He is awake at least, he is still in pain but they are not torturing him." She said looking a little sad again.

"At least we know that he is alive." Tochiro smiled.

_At least we know that. I just hope we get there in time. They were much farther away then I expected them to have gotten. If Harlock had not remembered the tracker, we could never had found them._ Tochiro could feel just thinking that though, made a cold chill go down his spine.

"Master Tochiro, all the repairs are done." The pirate came back on screen. Tochiro gave Mimee a quick look. She looked at him with no reaction on her face.

"Good, push the engines up to 200 and give me as much power as you can. We need to catch up to them." He said calmly.

"Yes, sir!" The pirate said and gave the order on before the screen went dark. Tochiro could feel the Arcadia finally going at full speed. He exhaled relived as they were finally were catching up to the bounty hunters.

He suddenly realized that Mimee looked like she was gonna pass out. He ran up to her and supported her, carefully leading her back to the captains chair.

"I don't like this." She said low, sitting holding her hands up to her head. "Harlock is going through a lot of feelings now. First he was confused, then he was worried, before he got angry, but now he..." She stopped speaking. Tochiro stood next to her holding a hand on her shoulder."

"Now he?" He asked giving Mimee time to answer.

"He is is scared" She said looking both worried and sad at the same time. Tochiro did not know what to say.

_Harlock? Scared? Just what are they doing to him?_ Tochiros eyes narrowed and his left fist were shaking in anger. He looked again at the radar.

_We are not far away now._

Suddenly Mimee twisted her body away from him.

"Mimee? Whats wrong?" He asked looking back on her. She was twisting around in pain.

"Harlock is in pain.. they are doing it again!" She cried out in pain. Tochiro took her hands and were holding on to them.

"Hang on Mimee." He said tying to help. She gasped for air but she had stopped moving around. She was pale and were shivering but she did not seem to be in pain. It only seemed to last for a few seconds, before she were twisting around in even worse pain than before.

"Hold out, we are almost there.. They should come into our radar any minute." He said trying his best to help her. Just as he said that the radar started to make a sound and a image came up on the screen. A white ship was coming towards them.

"Look, Mimee. There they are!" He called to her. She lifted her head now that the pain seemed to have stopped.

_Thats them alright. The same ship that attacked us._ Tochiro growled as he saw it again. He quickly made his way over to the panel.

"We have finally found the bounty hunters ship! We'll ram strait into them and board them! Make the ship ready!" Tochiro called over the ship. In every part of the ship the crew were running around getting the ship ready.

"All lights are green, sir. She is ready to go.." A pirate gave the clear signal to Tochiro.

"Maximum output on the engine." Tochiro said as he suddenly saw that the enemy ship was firing at them. The first bullets passed them with out doing any damage.

"Give them a few rounds with the main gun, take us around on their left side and go in to ramming speed." He said looking at the radar it showed that Harlock were some where on the bounty hunters ships right side. The Arcadia turned and shot of a few shots. They hit the ship with the first shots but did not do big damage. As they turned round the two ships were firing at each other trying to stop the other ship. None of the seeming to get in a good hit when one of the shots from Arcadia took out the enemy ships steering.

Harlock was again fighting against the chains, trying to get lose from the bed. Every move was painful, but struggling with the cuffs were hurting like hell, since he had burn wounds on his wrists. He could feel blood dripping down from his hands. The alarm was still howling, giving the Captain new hope that his friends were not far off.

Suddenly the ship started to shake as the ship got hit by the first shots. The door went suddenly up and Dora came in. she was dressed in her dress and had tears in her eyes.

"The Arcadia, they are fighting to get you back." She said supporting herself to the wall as the ship shook. The Arcadia's last shot had taken out their steering.

"As I would have done for any one of my men." Harlock said meaning every word of it. She looked at him for a few seconds before moving over to his bed. She took of him the foot chains, before moving to the panel on the bed.

"What are you doing?" He asked not sure what to think about this. As she pushed a few buttons Harlock could suddenly lift his arms out of the hole in the bed. As he sat up, he was still back bound but he was free to move around. she looked at him tears in her eyes.

"They should not see their captain being helpless like that." She said. Harlock stood up looking strait at her. It feelt good to stand again, even as his body still hurt. Harlock moved over to the window and looked out on the Arcadia. They were still for a few monuments. She was standing next to the bed crying a bit to herself.

"They are gonna ram your ship." He suddenly said, looking at her reflection in the window.

"I don't care any more. This ship was never my home." Harlock smiled as she said this.

"Seems like you did a little thinking, and finally came out of your shell. You sound much more like a real warrior now." He smiled still looking at her reflection, she laughed suddenly, for the first time since they had met.

"If I were a man, maybe." she laughed. Harlock turned towards her and for the first time, Dora realized why Harlock had so many good friends, his one hazel brown eye that she was looking at had the most friendly and kind look in it.

"You should warn your brother. In a few seconds the Arcadia will ram it's way into your ship. If you and your brother want to leave alive, then get to a rescue capsule as soon as you can." He said looking dead serious. She looked at him confused.

"Why did you tell me that? Would you let us go after what we did to you? What we could have done to you and your friends? Kansei told you about what he planed, dident he?!" She was screaming at the end, looking at him as tears came up in her eyes again. Harlock did not answer but turned again towards the window.

"You better hurry." He said, his face was unreadable as she looked at his reflection. She turned to leave and she could not hold her tears back any longer.

"Thank you... for making me see the real me.." She said as she ran out of the room. Harlock sighed as he looked out on the Arcadia again, she was coming towards them at full speed. She had stopped shooting and was getting shot at by the bounty hunter ship but was not slowing down.

_Keep going Tochiro, full speed like we always do. That is our way, the pirates way._ He thought silently towards his friend.

It almost seemed like Tochiro could hear his friend's silent words, as he gave the final orders.

"Give it all we have. Lets do this like the captain would want it. Striking hard and showing no mercy." Everyone on board the Arcadia was doing just what they were needed to do.

"Sir, we are on ramming course and all systems are green." One pirate said.

"We are going at full speed and the engines are giving out max output." Said another one looking at Tochiro.

"Good, then tell all men to brace for impact." As the message rang out Tochiro made his way over to a big handle in front of the window. As he placed his hand on the handle, Tochiro looked at the bounty hunters ship. He looked at Mimee worried.

"He is not in any danger. He is feeling hope. He is not in the zone of impact." She said finally sounded like the Mimee Tochiro knew. He nodded feeling a lot better about what he was gonna do. He pulled the handle down, and out from the bow of the ship a knife came out. The knife was something Harlock had requested a long time ago. In the beginning Tochiro had not understood why he had wanted it. But right now he was glad he had made it a part of the Arcadia.

_Harlock was right about the knife, this is his way, the way of the pirates._ his final thoughts were.

The Arcadia was now closing in fast. The knife were cutting through space like a shark fin in sea. After only a few seconds the Arcadia rammed in to the bounty hunter ship like going though butter. Tochiro, who was used to the Arcadia ramming into ships, stood fast on the bridge even as the other pirates who had safety belts on them were getting thrown around.

"Open the hatches in the bow and board them! We will rescue the Captain now!" Tochiro called out. As the first hatches in the bow opened the pirates were flowing out in to the bounty hunter ship. Tochiro got out his Cosmo Dragoon and followed the men, having a stone face on.

Harlock saw the moment the knife came out of the bow, smiling a bit to himself.

As the Arcadia rammed into the bounty hunter ship, Harlock stood tall for the first shock but as the second shock came his legs gave in. He fell to his knees cursing to himself.

_Damm, Those burn marks on my legs are killing me._ He cursed as he could feel his legs burn in pain. Forcing himself up again, he looked at the door knowing that any minute his crew would be coming. He smiled a little as the final shocks of the ramming stopped.

_Still, it shakes a hell a lot more in the ship that gets hit when the Arcadia is ramming it, than in the Arcadia itself._ He thought grinning a bit to himself.

Tochiro was leading the pirates though the ship. They were checking every room in the long white hall they were in.

_Shit there is a lot of prisoner rooms on this ship. but so far we have not come to see any of the bounty hunters._ Tochiro growled to himself, as two of the pirates came out of the two doors next to him, Shaking their heads.

"The captain is in the room at the far end of the hall." A voice said behind him suddenly. Tochiro turned to see that Mimee had followed them into the ship.

"Mimee... okay, lets go strait to that room then." He said not disbelieving her words for a second moving quickly to the room that were on the far end of the hall they were in. Tochiro moved up to the panel, even as the door had a code to open, it took Tochiro only a few seconds to hot wire the lock.

As the door slowly slided open, all of the pirate crew was looking in curious.

In the end of the room standing in front of a window Harlock stood. The captain had his head held high and his arms resting behind his back. His tall strong form were looking powerful as always. It seemed almost like the light in the room had dimmed and the only light was coming from the window behind him, giving his hole body a shadowed look as he stood there. It made it all seemed magic for those few seconds. Harlock stood there having a soft look in his eye as Tochiro made his first steps into the room.

"Harlock..." He said fighting to hold his tears back. Harlock smiled at him.

"I knew that you would come, my friend." He said walking a few steps closer to his friend when the burn mark on his right foot screamed under the weight of his body and gave in for a second. Fighting to find his balance again, Harlock nearly feel forward but manged to get back in balance before falling over.

"Harlock!" Are you okay?" Tochiro ran up to him in case he was gonna fall as Harlock moved back to the bed and sat down. As he came all the way up to him Tochiro could finally see what shape the captain was in. Around his neck there was a strange metal ring and he had some bad burn marks where the ring was. His lip was cut and old blood had dripped down his chin. Harlock was breathing hard as he still were in pain. His arms were bound behind his back by some strange large metal cuffs.

"Lets get those cuffs of you." He said looking at him worried. Harlock nodded still breathing hard.

"I am afraid he took the gun you made, Tochiro." He said looking a little sad over his shoulder as Tochiro crawled up in the bed and made his way behind Harlock.

"Don't worry about it. We'll get both your guns and cape back." Tochiro said. He was glad Harlock turned to look at the crew members that finally moved on through the ship looking for the bounty hunters, as his friend could not see his worried face.. He looked at Harlocks badly burned and bleeding hands.

_If this was not the captain this pain would probably killed him. It seems like Harlock tried to break free even as his hands were like this._ He thought as he looked at the bleeding hands. Mimee had moved up to Harlocks side and sat down in front of him.

"I am sorry, Mimee, for have worried you like this." Harlock said looking at her, he cringed a bit in pain when Tochiro tried to get the code right to make the cuffs loosen.

"Sorry this will be painful." He said getting a pained look from Harlock. Harlock nodded.

_His hands are this badly burned even though he had his gloves on. _Tochiro thought as he tried different things to get the cuffs of.

"What on earth did they do to you?" Tochiro asked. "Mimee was screaming that they were killing you, and these wounds..."

"The ring on my neck gives out a strong electric currents. The currents made the metal burning hot. I was getting electrocuted and believe me it hurts like hell." Harlock growled as he looked in the wall with a hard look in his eye.

"There!" Tochiro said as the cuffs suddenly opened. Harlock drew his arms free and looked at the bad wounds himself. He slowly and painfully puled his gloves of as they had a big hole in them were his wrists were. He carefully took hold of the ring and tried to pull it of. His face was twisted of pain before he stopped and let go of the ring.

"Let me." Tochiro said and looked at the lock at it. Tochiro was shaking in anger seeing how his best friend had been tortured like this. He could not see any way to get it of without the key, and he knew that how ever they made the ring work, they could probably kill the captain before they could get the key from them. He took up his gun.

"I don't know how to get it of otherwise." he said looking at Harlock with a worried look in his eyes. Harlock turned his head so that he looked at his friend.

"I trust you." He said turning his head back on Mimee. Tochiro took aim and took the shot. The laser bullet just nearly missed Harlocks neck but the ring fell down in Harlocks lap. Tochiro sighed relived. Harlock got back up and turned to Tochiro.

"Thank you, my friend." He said having that same kind look in his eyes.

"Don't mention it, but don't ever do any thing like this again, please." Tochiro answered as he got back down on the floor.

"Deal." Harlock said with a small smile as he removed the blood from his chin with his right hand. "Believe me I have not intension to do so."

Suddenly the door went up, Tochiro grabbed for his gun but stopped as it was one of their pirate crew that came in.

"I found it, I found it." He grinned and held up Harlocks cape. It was folded and on top of it, his gravity saber and the Cosmo Dragoon where laying. Tochiro ginned so all his white teeth were showing again. Harlock smiled and took his guns, putting them back in his sheaths. He gave Tochiro a quick smile as he took his cape. the cape flowed around as he took it around his shoulders and fell back in place as he fasted the skull medallion. The cape hid a bit of the the burn mark around his neck, but it was still visible.. He smiled as he saw that Mimee smiled with tears in her eyes.

"I am glad you came for me." He said smiling to the both of them and started to make his way out of the room with his best friends at his sides.

_Finally he looks like the Harlock I know, I was getting worried there._ Tochiro smiled to himself looking up at his best friend.

As the three made their way through the ship, they finally arrived at the bridge of the ship. The crew of the Arcadia were trying to break through the door.

"Captain!" one of them called out as he suddenly saw them coming.

"Captain!"

"Are you okay, captain?" the men were all taking at the same time. Most of them looking at the Harlock with tears in their eyes. Harlock smiled and gave them a small nod. Most of the men were starting to cry as they saw this.

"How many are they?" Tochiro asked.

"Two as we have seen, sir!" on of them answered as they went back to getting down the door. Harlock looked at the door with his stone face.

"We are nearly through it now, sir." one of the pirates working on the door said. Tochiro grinned as he was looking forward to give them a little payback for what they had done. Most of the men were feeling the same way. As the door finally gave in and opened two of the pirates rushed in. As they had made their first two steps in through the door suddenly they were backing up as both of them had been shot.

Harlock pushed his way through his crew and walked into the room. His cape flowing behind him and his right hand on his gun. He seemed like a dark shadow that had entered the room. He lifted the Cosmo Dragoon and shot two shots into the pilot chair. Kansei pulled back from the chair as the bullets made their way clean through the chair. He stood up holding his gun towards Harlock. He did not have his helmet on and had a cut on his forehead. His chocolate brown hair and sea blue eyes confirmed that Dora was his sister. His eyes were shining in anger looking at Harlock.

"You wanted to know about this gun?" Harlock said lifting the Cosmo Dragon up to his face. "There is only five of these made. They were given to the four persons the maker wanted to give them to. My best friend made this gun." Harlock looked at Kansei with a cold stare, pointing the gun at him. Tochiro grinned proud as Harlock told about the Cosmo Dragoon guns. Kansei gave Tochiro a quick look before keeping his eyes at Harlock. He moved two steps to his left to get a better shot at him, Harlock did not move at all.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" asked Tochiro looking at Kansei with a small smile on his lips. Kansei looked for a few seconds at him before he looked back on Harlock. To Kanseis surprise Harlock had his eye closed. Taking the chance Kansei fired of a shot at Harlock. Harlock opened his eye and moved only a few millimeters just enough for the bullet to miss him. Before Kansei had a new chance Harlock fired of two rapid shots. The first shot hit Kansei in his right shoulder making him drop the gun. The second shot hit him in his left shoulder making him fall back over and landed on his back.

"Shit!" he cursed as he feelt the pain in his shoulders and feelt the blood drip out of the wounds. The pirates called out victory calls as Harlock came up to him standing over him. He pointed his gun down to his forehead. His look was still ice cold. Kansei swallowed his fear and realized that he was gonna die.

"Don't!" a voice called out and out of nowhere Dora came and threw herself down over her wounded brother, Protecting him with her body.

"Dora. " Kansei said surprised at his sisters reaction. Harlock put his gun back in it's sheath and turned his back on them.

"Like I said before, if you want to leave alive you better get to a rescue capsule." Harlock said and started to go out of the room. Mimee came up to him and walked next to him.

"You don't want to kill them, captain?" asked one of the pirates.

"Leave them, let them decide for themselves." Harlock said stopping. Tochiro looked again at the two bounty hunters. Dora was sitting next to her brother crying. Kansei was looking at Harlocks back s

looking both confused and angry. Tochiro shook his head.

"You are dammed lucky, you know that?" he said turning after Harlock and they left taking their crew with them.

Harlock was sitting at one of the hospital beds well back at the Arcadia. Doctor Zero was putting a bandage on Harlocks wounds around his wrists as Mimee was finishing taking on a bandage around his neck. His legs were all ready bandaged.

"Why did you not kill him?" Zero asked. Harlock looked down on the floor, thinking.

"There was need any more was there?" Tochiro asked. Harlock looked up at him, smiling a bit.

"I know you, you don't believe in unnecessary killing." Tochiro continued. Doctor Zero looked confused.

"But why?" he asked finishing up. Harlock looked like he was far away.

"He can never hold a gun again. The two shots I hit him with made sure of that." Tochiro put a hand on his back. Harlock turned and looked at him.

"You did the right thing." Tochiro said looking serious. Harlock nodded slowly.

"By the way Tochiro, what happened to your head?" Harlock asked as he had noticed the bandage around his head even under the hat.

"Well you did." said Tochiro looking at him. "Or have you forgotten that you threw me around like a rag doll?" Tochiro looked offended.

"Hey, i was trying to save your life. Landing was your job." Harlock grinned.

"And how the hell did you think I would do that, flying towards the bar?" Tochiro grinned back. Mimee was smiling and looked over the other two pirates that had been shot that were laughing at the discussion. They had just been lighter hurt luckily.

Suddenly a message came over the ship.

"Captain, there is a small rescue capsule escaping from the enemy ship.." Harlock stood up. Mimee came up to him holding a pair of his booths, and a pair of his cloves. Harlock smiled and took his booths on. He was careful when he took his cloves over the hurting wrists. Taking his cape on again he looked at Tochiro smiling. They left the sick bay and made their way to the bridge.

As they came up Harlock moved to the window looking on the small escaping ship. He smiled a bit to himself and moved back to his chair. As he sat down the door tho the bridge opened and Tochiros bird landed on Harlocks right arm. He was a big bird with black feathers. His head were kinda hanging on to his body by as you could say a mere tread. He had a long beak that sometimes went apart as he tried to eat. Tochiro used to take a scarf around his beak when he was gonna eat. He was making a lot of sounds and were crying. Harlock smiled petting the birds head. Tochiro smiled as he moved to his seat in the front.

"Captain what do you want us to do?" a pirate asked.

"Aim the main pulsar cannon at the bounty hunter ship." he said cold. Tochiro aimed the cannon in on the white ship.

"She is in target sir and good to go." Tochiro said turning towards Harlock.

"Fire!" he ordered. Tochiro pushed the button and a shining bullet took of towards the ship. As the abandoned bounty hunter ship disappeared in a fireball, Harlock smiled to himself.

"Captain we are getting a message from the capsule." Harlock looked at the ship, before looking at Tochiro.

"Put it up." he said as Tori-san, the bird moved to his normal place on the top of the captains chair.

Dora's face came on the screen above them.

"Harlock, I have to thank you yet again, thank you for sparing my brothers life. We can start again now." she smiled as tears were coming up in her eyes again. Tochiro looked at her and turned to look at the captain as many of the pirates there did. Harlock had his stone face on.

"We will start up a small inn on a planet here some where. I hope you will come by some day. You and your crew will always be welcome." she said smiling.

"Only if you can promise me that there will be no more knock out gas and bullets flying..." said Tochiro, looking offended again. She laughed a bit.

"I am sorry about what happened Tochiro, and I promise. No more traps." Tochiro grinned looking up at her.

"I'll come to taste your home made soup." Harlock said, smiling a little. Dora started to cry as he said that.

"Thank you so much. I will never forget you." she said and bowed her head down as the screen went dark. Tochiro sat smiling, looking at the capsule as it disappeared.

"Thank you huh?" he said turning his chair around, looking at Harlock.

"It's not every day the hunter thanks his prey is it?" he said smiling. Harlock smiled back.

"Where do we go now Captain?" one of the pirates asked smiling.

"Where we were really going in the first place." he said.

"Yes, sir. Putting us back on course." the pirate said and every one started to put the Arcadia back on the course.

Harlock sat still looking out on the sea of stars, feeling his bandage around his neck with two of his fingers.

_Hunters prey hmm..._ Harlock thought as they were setting out trough the stars free again.

The end.

**Wow I am done! Its finally done. **

**Okay so I had to have a happy ending at the end. **

**I feel a little sad knowing that its done, but I hope you like it as much as I do. This is my best story so far. **

**Feel free to tell me how you liked it.**

**Ps. Tori-san is the only thing I have ever heard they call that strange bird. **


End file.
